This paper reports the findings of a recent survey conducted among Turkish women. The aim was to find out what role, if any, the Internet plays in their lives, what they think about it, and how and why they do or don't use it. While a small-scale study, it provided some details on the state of Turkish women living in a metropolitan area.

Contents

"The invention of the Internet has forever altered the world we live in. Not since the industrial revolution have we seen such profound change in the way we work ... we shop ... we get our news ... and conduct business ... ." [1].

The Internet bridges distances by connecting people all over the world, enabling them to share knowledge and information through e-mail, digital publications, online shopping, digital news wires, and other services. It is a medium in which people can find information, present information, and produce information by interacting with others online.

Being such a useful communications technology, it has entered the lives of more than 500 million people around the world according to Nua Internet Surveys [2]. Though this seems like a large one at first, it is only about 8.5% of the world population. What is the situation in Turkey? According to an estimate by Nua, 600.000 people in Turkey were Internet users in May 1997. In May 2000, this number was found to be around two million [3]. Comparatively, the population of Turkey is 67,844,903, as of 22 September 2000 [4].

As can be seen, the Internet has entered and is continuing to enter the lives of Turkish people. According to a study by TUBITAK-BILTEN (The Scientific and Technical Research Council of Turkey-Information Technologies and Research Institute), 7% of the households in Turkey had Internet connection in the year 2000 [5]. Further, ProCon GfK claims that in April 2001, Internet use in major cities of Turkey increased by 17%. This research notes that the 18-24 age group (the A-B socio-economic group which contains the wealthier and better educated people of the population) and males are the largest Internet users [6].

Having mentioned that Net use is more widespread amongst males, the question to be asked is "is male population dominating the Internet?". In her paper, J. Morahan-Martin argues that although "the Internet has been described as a democratic agora ... Internet users are more likely to be male, wealthier, better educated, and younger than the general population" [7]. She says that, "The Internet has been dominated by males since its inception". Is this still true? Are males still dominating the Internet? On one hand, we can say that more and more women are beginning to use the Internet as they are beginning to discover it. Moms are discovering that it is a way to communicate with their children who are away from home, wives are discovering that it is a way to shop with comfort at home, and other women are finding out that it is a great place to find information. On the other hand, there may still be many women who are not even aware of the Net's offerings. Although recent studies in the U.S. [8] show that there has been a great increase in the number of female users and that male-female distribution is nearly equal now, this is not the case in Turkey. ProCon GfK's research indicates that males dominate Internet use in Turkey. But this is all we know; that in Turkey, there are more men using the Internet than women. What about the way the two different gender groups use the Internet?

There have not been many studies focused on Internet use in Turkey. There has not been an investigation, or at least one that is visible, which gives information about particularly the Internet use of Turkish women. This study aims to understand what role, if any, the Internet plays in the lives of Turkish women, what they think about it, how and why they use it, or why they don't use it.

In order to fulfill the goal of finding out the place of the Internet in the lives of Turkish women, a survey was conducted. For this purpose, a questionnaire was prepared and distributed to women; the questionnaire can be found in the Appendix.

The questionnaire included questions about Internet access and use, e-mail use and frequency, chat and relationships in the virtual environment, e-commerce, and some questions investigating the general view of Turkish women towards the Internet.

There were 81 respondents to the survey. Most were from Ankara, the capital of Turkey and the second largest city after Istanbul, and were found mostly to be educated women. Though one-third of the respondents did not specify their economic status, those who did have an economic status of at least average. This was a small-scale study, and thus it may not reflect the overall behavior of Turkish women. But, it may reflect the behavior of Turkish women living in a metropolitan area.

Are Turkish women using the Internet? Do they even know what it is? For what purposes do they use the Net?

In this survey two-thirds of the women indicated that they are users and have access to the Internet.

Internet Access

Women who use the Internet

67%

With Internet access at home

77%

With Internet access at work

37%

Who Is Using the Internet?

Education

What is the level of education among women using the Internet? What age groups do users fall into?

It can be said that women who use the Internet are at least high school graduates with the greatest percentage being college/university graduates.

Economic Status

1 US dollar = approximately 1,400,000 TL as of March 2002.

Women who use the Internet have at least moderate income. It can be seen that women with lower incomes do not make up much of the overall percentage. However, surprisingly, women with high incomes (income greater than two billion TL) is just as low a percentage. One explanation can be that women do not earn a lot in Turkey.

Age

Most Internet users are between the ages 18-40 with the age group 18-25 being slightly ahead of the age group 26-40. We should point out that there were no participants above the age of 60.

Profession

Most users are academics or work in the field of education. There are a considerable amount of students as well as unemployed women.

Marital Status

Married Internet users

56%

Single Internet users

44%

There are more married women online than single ones. Most married users have two children. However, a great percentage of users do not have any children.

Place of Access

An interesting observation is that although most women have Internet access at home, most of them only use the Internet from time to time, or have only used it a couple of times.

Of those who have access at home:

Only used the Internet a couple of times

19%

Use the Internet from time to time

45%

Continuous users

36%

Going Online

How did users start using the Internet? What made them interested?

It can be seen that women started using the Internet mostly due to their own curiosity, then because of their jobs.

Internet Use and Experience

How long have women been Internet users? How often do they use it?

Most women users have been online for at least one to two years. Contrary to what one might think, there is a great percentage of experienced users among Turkish women.

People use the Internet for different purposes and activities. Thus, one can use the Internet in a variety of ways. Here is what Turkish women do online:

This survey showed that women users mostly prefer to use the Internet for e-mail. The next highly preferred use is for educational and research purposes.

What about other activities? There are a wide range of things one can do on and about the Net. Have Turkish women prepared Web pages, downloaded files, or visited virtual museums?

The survey shows that most women have not prepared a Web page, have not had a phone conversation via the Net, have not visited virtual museums, have not joined electronic newsgroups, or have not tried online banking. However, most have conducted searches with search engines, listened to music via the Internet, or downloaded files from different Internet locales.

It can be said that Turkish women are not using all possibilities of the Internet and they don't seem to be interested in learning more about it. When asked if they have attended a seminar about the Internet, or read a book or magazine to learn about it, here is how they responded:

Views of Users

What do Turkish women think about the Internet? In general one might state that the Internet is a great new technology, a democratic place where everybody can be equal, and an invention which makes life easier. Do women of Turkey agree?

94% of women users agreed that the Internet makes life easier. One out of the 53 users who responded disagreed, while two said they had no idea.

A medium without prejudice?

Users who agree that the Net is a medium
in which one can communicate without being
subject to prejudice

92%

Users who disagree and say that there is
prejudice on the Net

8%

Censorship on the Net

We all know that the Internet is a place where any sort of content can be found. With no authority controlling the content of the Internet, it means that anyone can construct a Web page and share their ideas. Some of this information may be considered inappropriate for some to see. Should there be censorship on the Net to prevent this? What do women of Turkey think?

Most users feel that censorship should be applied on some issues on the Net. Only a few users indicated that there should definitely be no censorship.

Language

Content of the Internet, being viewed by a variety of users all around the world, is largely in English. Some argue that those who do not speak English cannot benefit as much from it.

Does language form a barrier in using the Internet for Turkish women? Can they find the information they're seeking for in Turkish?

Users who said they can always find information
on the Net in Turkish

26%

Users who said they can only sometimes find
information on the Net in Turkish

57%

Users who said they cannot find information on
the Net in Turkish

17%

More than half of the users said they could only sometimes find content in Turkish, while over one-quarter of the users said they could always find the information they seek for in Turkish. So, it seems Turkish women are mostly content with the amount of information available in their own language on the Internet.

However, almost one-third of the users feel that language poses an obstacle when using the Internet, and almost half of the users feel it sometimes does so too.

Users who feel that language is a barrier in Net use

32%

Users who feel that language sometimes is a barrier in Net use

45%

Users who feel that language is not a barrier in Net use

23%

Thus, we may say that even though there's considerable content available in Turkish on the Internet, it is not enough. Even though half of those participating in this survey said they spoke English, language still stands as an obstacle for Turkish women in using the Internet.

Content

Given the wide variety of content on the Internet, which sites are preferred by most of our respondents?

So many Turkish women visit news sites on the Net most frequently, followed by sites about women, children, and culture and arts.

Finding Content

How do users find the sites they are looking for? Do they use search engines, or follow hyperlinks on Web pages?

The survey shows that users mostly locate sites by searching with search engines, or through recommendations by friends.

Difficulties

What do people complain the most about the Internet?

Continue Net Use?

Although most people think the Internet makes life easier, as can be seen above it has its difficulties. Are these difficulties so great that users would consider giving up?

Users who have thought of giving up Internet use

10%

Users who sometimes think of giving up Internet use

25%

Users who have never considered giving up the Internet

65%

It is comforting to see that most users haven't even considered giving up the Internet. But still, with one-quarter of the users sometimes thinking about giving up Internet, there is some dissatisfaction.

Views from All Respondents

Is the Net indispensable?

As we've been saying, the Internet has a lot to offer. But are these offerings so important that they make the Internet indispensable? Is not having Internet access a great loss? All the participants were asked if they thought the Internet offered anything important or not, and if not having Internet access was a disadvantage. More than half of the users and also non-users believe that the Internet has something important to offer. Users and non-users responded similarly in this case:

Internet users who believe the Net offers something important

60%

Non-users who believe the Net offers something important

67%

Internet users who partially agree that the Net does not offer
anything important

27%

Non-users who partially agree that the Net does not
offer anything important

19%

Internet users who believe the Net does not offer anything
important

13%

Non-users who believe the Net does not offer
anything important

14%

When asked if they thought not having Internet access was a disadvantage, the responses of users and non-users were a little different than they were in the previous case. 94% of the users agreed to some degree that it was a disadvantage while 24% of the non-users disagreed saying it was not a disadvantage.

Not having Net access is a disadvantage:

Users who agree

46%

Non-users who agree

48%

Users who partially agree

48%

Non-users who partially agree

28%

Users who disagree

6%

Non-users who disagree

24%

Thus, most respondents think that the Internet is, in fact, important, at least to some extent. Half of the respondents strictly agree that not having Net access is a disadvantage. The reason for the percentage of non-users who disagree being high could be because they have never used the Internet or they don't know as much about it. But it may also be a sign of these non-users not being so much interested in starting to use the Internet.

Time

Does the Internet save time allowing us to perform transactions, such as sending gifts to loved ones, talking to a friend living in another continent, or even buying a car, from the comfort of our own homes, without having to move anything but our hands? Or do we waste our time by browsing, surfing, or chatting?

Most of the respondents agree at least up to some extent that the Internet saves time; users and non-users seem to be in some agreement on this issue.

Using the Internet saves time:

Users who agree at least to some extent

90%

Non-users who agree at least to some extent

86%

Users who disagree

10%

Non-users who disagree

14%

People spend too much time on the Internet:

Users who agree

46%

Non-users who agree

68%

Users who partially agree

52%

Non-users who partially agree

27%

Users who disagree

2%

Non-users who disagree

5%

Children

It has already been noted that some users believe there should be censorship on the Net on some issues. Do these issues include inappropriate material for children? Do our respondents feel that it is easy for children to access this material on the Internet?

Most respondents agree that there is material that is inappropriate for children on the Net and that they can have access to it. The total percentage of users and the total percentage of non-users agreeing in some way is about the same, about 90% in both cases. However, there is a slight difference between the number of users who strictly agree and non-users who strictly agree.

Children can have access to a lot of inappropriate material on the Internet:

Users who agree

63%

Non-users who agree

55%

Users who partially agree

30%

Non-users who partially agree

41%

Users who disagree

7%

Non-users who disagree

2%

Privacy at risk?

Privacy is another key issue, brought up as a negative element when criticizing the Internet. Is privacy put to risk when on the Internet? What do our respondents think?

Once again most non-users strictly agree when most users partially agree. But the overall percentage agreeing in some way is about the same of both users and non-users. They generally believe that those who use the Internet put their privacy at risk.

Why not use the Internet?

Finally, the respondents were asked what prevented them from using the Internet? While the answers greatly varied, the leading reason was given as "not having enough time". This may be another way of saying that the Internet is a "time consumer" instead of a "time saver" or that they think learning how to use the Internet takes a lot of time.

The next popular answer was "I don't know how to use it", in a way, pointing to a lack of interest. This was followed by people stating that they didn't have a computer which certainly constitutes as a valid reason. But we need to investigate why some still do not own a computer.

It can be concluded from the results of this survey that in Turkey, Internet use is widespread amongst women living in some urban areas. Although only one-third of the users are continuous Net users, the others can be seen as potential users because, most of them already have Internet access in their homes. There was only one respondent who said she didn't know what the Internet was out of the 81 respondents.

The non-users are not connected mostly because they don't have enough time, or they don't have a computer, or they don't know how to use the Internet. This can be interpreted as non-users being interested in Net use, since reasons like not being interested, or the Internet being unnecessary were rarely mentioned. They have given not having enough time as a reason of not using the Internet, perhaps due to a misconception that the Internet consumes a lot of time. Since these people have never used the Internet, this conception may change once they have done so. Those that don't have a computer simply may be unable to afford one. Once their economic status improves there won't be many obstacles that will prevent them from using the Internet. Those with an adequate economic status always have the option of Internet cafés. Others have said they don't know how to use the Internet. This problem is probably due to an absence of widespread efforts to spread Internet use; there has not been a systematic educational movement in Turkey for the Internet. Nevertheless, the general outlook looks hopeful in terms of Internet use by urban Turkish women and we think more women will log on soon.

Focusing on those women who are using the Internet, it can be seen that they're not using all features of the current Internet. It is mostly used for its basic features like e-mail and research. Many Net activities such as Web page construction, electronic newsgroups, and online phone conversations have not been done by the majority of respondents. This is in part due to lack of knowledge and experience about the Internet. Turkish women don't know what kinds of Internet experiences are possible.

One important finding of this survey is that Turkish women do not shop online. Only two of the respondents said that they have shopped a couple of times on the Internet. It seems that most women feel online shopping is not safe in terms of security and privacy. There is also some discomfort in not having face-to-face contact or any sort of personal interaction. Turkish women do not feel comfortable buying products without seeing them, by just clicking.

When analyzing what Turkish women think about the Internet, we can start by saying they generally feel it is free of prejudice. However, when it comes to the issue of gender, they say at times they are treated differently because they are female, and they sometimes feel a need to hide their real identity. Thus, Turkish women do not trust relationships on the Internet. They also feel that when they are online, they are putting their privacy at risk.

On the issue of censorship, women feel that with the Internet being such an independent environment, on some issues censorship should be applied. They especially agree that there is a danger of children having access to inappropriate material on the Net.

The respondents who use the Internet mostly believe that language is not a barrier. But, one-third of the users believe that it does stand in the way of Net use. Here it should be pointed out that two-thirds of the users know at least a second language, usually English. Hence, those who believe language constitutes a barrier may be those respondents who only know Turkish.

Users and non-users alike generally agree that the Internet has something important to offer and that not having Internet access is a disadvantage. Thus, they believe that the Internet has a certain place in ones life.

We can conclude that Turkish women of the city have not yet integrated virtual life with real life. But, they have started using the Internet, are happy about it, and they acknowledge the importance of it. They are just beginning to enter virtual life, and there is still some level of adjustment. Those who have not met the Internet yet have not closed their doors to it, so the number of users is sure to increase in the future. Again, it should be stressed that these conclusions cannot be made for all women in Turkey, due to the small scale of this study.

About the Authors

Ayisigi B. Sevdik is continuing her M.S. studies in the Department of Computer Engineering at Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey. She holds a B.S. degree in Computer Engineering from Baskent University, Ankara.
E-mail: ayisigi@cs.bilkent.edu.tr

Varol Akman was educated at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York, where he received a Ph.D. degree in computer and systems engineering in 1985. Prior to joining Bilkent University, he held a senior researcher position with the Centrum voor Wiskunde en Informatica in Amsterdam. Professor Akman's current research is concentrated in artificial intelligence, natural language, and the Internet (social aspects). He teaches a new graduate course, CS513 - Implications of the Internet, at Bilkent.
E-mail: akman@cs.bilkent.edu.tr

Notes

1. William M. Daley, U.S. Secretary of Commerce during the Clinton administration. These remarks were a reaction to the UCLA Internet Study; see the UCLA Internet Report 2000, and UCLA Internet Report 2001, "Surveying the Digital Future," at http://www.ccp.ucla.edu/index.asp, accessed 27 February 2002.